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Friday, December 8, 2017

December 2017 - Special Report

The December Board meeting is usually held as an organizational meeting where new Board members are sworn in and the Board selects its leaders. This year, in addition to the organizational meeting the Board held a special meeting for a presentation of the annual district achievement report, delivered by the six school principals. Each principal highlighted their school’s points of pride and shared some of the methods and metrics they use to assess the needs of each individual student.

For the achievement report presentation, rather than the usual Board Recap, this month I’m pointing you to a great write up in the Times of Chester County that I think sums up the evening well and instead I encourage you to watch a few video highlights from the meeting. Below are some clips that I think you will find especially interesting.

The “Science of Education” - Balancing a Variety of Assessment Inputs to Focus on Outcomes for Individual Students

Statewide math scores are out of line with other subject areas - an anomaly that has received a lot of attention throughout the state.

In this clip (2:30) Vic Dupuis and John Nolen explore “the science of education” and how UCFSD administration avoids “chasing the test” preferring to use a variety of inputs to address student needs and drive instruction.

In this clip (1:00) John Sanville follows up on John Nolen’s comments and summarizes the district’s approach to evaluating individual student needs.

Board Comments - Thoughts on the District’s Progress to Empowering Our Students for Success in Life and to Contribute to Society

At the end of all Board meetings each Board member is given the opportunity for comment. I think this month’s comments are especially meaningful to the public because they focus on strategy and philosophy.

This clip (14:00) starts with Bob Sage and goes around the table, providing each Board member an opportunity for comment.

Achievement Report Presentation

We hope you find these recaps useful. We encourage you to stay informed about the workings of your School Board. Our online resources in BoardDocs allow you to virtually access the Boardroom through videos and electronic documents. Your communications team is here to help - we’re always happy to hear from you.